Railfanning Keddie and Williams Loop, California: November 21, 2009

This is video I shot during my trip to the Feather River Canyon on November 21, 2009.

Train #1) Up on the BNSF Gateway Sub, a northbound Barstow, California to Pasco, Washington manifest departs Quarry Road (near Keddie) at 11:14 AM, after being recrewed. BNSF GEVo #7531 and C44-9W's #4020, #1115, #4539, and #4701 quickly get the train moving up the 2.2% grade, toward Greenville, with #1115 and #4539 really smoking it up. From here, looking west into the Feather River Canyon, one gets a great perspective of just how much climbing the Gateway Sub does between Keddie and the Indian Valley, a distance of about 10 rail miles. When the bulkhead flat rolls by at 1:33, you can see the area west of Keddie. Believe it or not, this northbound would have been down in that canyon about 20 minutes earlier, still on Union Pacific trackage. The elevation here is about 3,000 feet above sea level.

Train #2) East of Quincy, California, we relocate to Williams Loop where we find some snow on the ground from the previous night's storm. After waiting about 2 hours, we finally see a westbound 96-car MNPRV manifest as it circles the loop and crosses under itself. It is definitely an exhilarating experience to be standing feet from the tracks on the upper level of the loop and have hundreds of tons of train passing both next to you and below you simultaneously, with the deafening sound of flanges squealing around the tight curve. The filming of this train was in very cold, windy, and loud conditions. This was extreme. GE C45AC #5523, EMD SD90/43MAC #8070, and GE C45AC #5338 scream past in dynamic braking as they work to keep the train under control, with another C45AC, #7894, bringing up the rear. Williams Loop was originally designed by Mr. John Williams in 1906 for the Western Pacific Railroad. This is one way that the Feather River Route gradually climbs up and out of the Feather River Canyon while maintaining a maximum ruling grade of just 1.5%, unlike the sister route through the Sierra Nevada mountains, Donner Pass, which sees up to 3% grades in some places.

Train #3) Later we are back at Keddie, this time positioned for a shot at the famous Wye. The westbound MNPRV manifest that we shot at Williams Loop has taken siding at Keddie to meet this eastbound double stack, as it passes over the Wye at 4:02 PM. Two GEVo's are arranged in a 1X1 power set on this train, with UP #5253 leading and UP #7710 shoving on the rear. Sadly, scenes like this will soon be a thing of the past in the FRC as intermodal traffic is moved to Donner and I found it hard to believe as I stood watching one of the last stack trains that will cross Spanish Creek on the amazing structure that is Keddie Wye.

Train #4) Next, it is the MNPRV's turn to pass over the Wye as UP GEVo #5523, UP SD90/43MAC #8070, and UP GEVo #5338 slowly lead the train onto the bridge at 4:10 PM. Toward the end of this clip you can hear some chatter on my scanner as a Renzenberger shuttle driver reports a trespasser to Union Pacific dispatch. The trespasser was apparently a railfan who decided to wander into the UP maintenance yard at Keddie, looking to stake out a good place for some pictures. This would end up being the last catch of the day and the last time we would see this manifest, as the sun was beginning to set.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• bnsf
• burlington
• northern
• santa
• fe
• union
• pacific
• up
• uprr
• ge
• emd
• gevo
• es44dc
• c44-9w
• c45ac
• c45accte
• es44ac
• sd90mac
• sd90/43ac
• sd90/43mac
• heritage
• III
• swoosh
• warbonnet
• fakebonnet
• manifest
• h-barpas
• quarry
• road
• crew
• change
• williams
• loop
• keddie
• wye
• mnprv
• mnprvb
• roseville
• double
• stack
• train
• intermodal
• feather
• river
• canyon
• frc
• route
• donner
• pass
• railroad
• railway
• railfan
• trespasser
• dispatcher
• renzenberger

[rockguitarist946]

nice, what kind of camcorder do you use?

[C60AC]

@rockguitarist946 For these shots I used my Fujifilm Finepix S700. I now use a Canon FS20 camcorder for videos and my Fuji mainly for pictures. Thanks for commenting.

[PineHillMotel]

Very nice video. Quincy, CA is located between the Keddie and Williams loops and is a quaint, friendly, scenic town to visit or stay on your trip.

[kekedog]

very good,and how long the train is???

[picardie01]

very nice scenic video

[gwaithwyr]

Brilliant. One of the best railroad videos I have ever seen. And the detailed information completes an excellent job.

[ynnhoJ22]

woW!,enough traffic through these areas, I liked the snow-filled Williams Loop. Greetings from Durango, Mexico!

[CoastStarlight11]

Intense stuff!!!

[kevininquincy]

To see damage to the Feather River Canyon and the train tracks during the flood of 97, search for flooding in the Feather River Canyon or "1997 New Years Flood in Plumas County Trailer"

[mapexmac]

Love this video C60AC, love the location(s), the flags (BNSF & UP) and kudos to you for fanning in the snow! Great stuff, thumbs-up and added it to my fave list.